Vinyl Cutting hardware Advice needed

[Lucksy31]

Hello everyone,
I'm in search of some good advice, and I hope with all of the knowledge here, i'll get it. I've been making vinyl decals for a few years now, as a hobby, and i've gotten pretty busy doing it. I started with a Stika-8, and with 2 years upgraded to a Stika-12. This year, the STika-12 crapped out on me, out of the blue. So, I upgraded to a STika-15. I rolled the dice and bough it used. Of course within 2 months, it's having problems now too.
I make the decals by layering the separate colors, which takes a lot of time. I know that there are other models out there that not only cut the decal out, but they also will print the multi-color image, and then cut it in one shot.
So my question is, could anyone suggest a model that will print the decal, and then cut it out, in one shot? What can I expect to pay? Are there associated costs with it like, INK(toner), white vinyl, blades,...etc? Is the image heat transferred to standard white vinyl?

Any help or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
-Scott

 

[signwizz]

i would suggest a roland sp300v or the 54" model but totell u the truth its out of your price range if ur buying those stika plotters ........You have all the same costs as a plotter plus lamination and u have to maintain it regularly and they cost is from $8000 - $12000
good luck
shane

 

[chopper]

signwiz is right,
once you print it you will need to laminate your print....however you could look into a Gerber edge, depending on what you are doing you may not need to laminate, this is an argument that is on going I know of a few that own these machines and they do not laminate their prints and they seem to hold up just fine, the difference is they are thermal printers and require print ribbons instead of ink, the cost is higher for printing, but if you remove the lamination part I think it is comparable. I believe the Gerber system uses a separate cutter, which is not a big deal, you could also check out the summa printers they work on the same princeable, the thermal printers are capable of printing some unique colors that cannot be done with a ink based machine, you will need to do a lot of research to come to the correct conclusion for yourself, also with the ink based machines you can get by with out an expensive laminator you could use a big squeegee and do just fine.
but as stated by signwiz you will be shelling out some bucks.
//chopper

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I believe the Gerber system uses a separate cutter, which is not a big deal,

I think that the cutters need to be "sprocket" fed and need 4 registration points. I was looking into the Edge as well since all my call is just decals at this point and my GX-24 wouldn't have worked with the Edge. The new Roland printer might be an option though.